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ABSTRACT: The goal of the study was to examine the transcriptional profile of pancreatic cancer cell lines and assess if the molecular subtypes observed in tumor samples were represented in existing cell line models. Cell line models allow us to investigate if the molecular subtype observed in tumor have unique sensitivity profiles to anticancer drugs. 29 pancreatic cancer cell lines were compared to a mixed reference pool of 30 pancreatic cancer cell lines to identify cell line specific gene expression.

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Project description:The goal of the study was to examine the transcriptional profile of pancreatic tumors to identify molecular subtypes in order to develop validated clinically useful gene expression signature with the potential to guide therapy decision. Tissue was obtained by snap freezing in liquid nitrogen as soon as removed. All tissue samples were stored at -80C. Samples were embedded in OCT and a 4ug section was taken for H/E staining. After QC procedure to ensure high quality RNA (RIN>7) and confirm PDAC histology, 78 samples were subjected to microarray analysis. All patients signed an Institutional Review Board approved consent for bio-banking, clinical data extraction and molecular analysis. 85 samples (77 tumors, 3 normal and 5 pancreatitis) were compared to a mixed reference pool of 66 tumor samples to identify gene expression patterns.

Project description:About half of all melanomas harbor a constitutively active mutant BRAFV600E/K kinase that can be selectively inhibited by targeted BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi). While patients treated with BRAFi initially exhibit measurable clinical improvement, the majority of patients eventually develop drug resistance and relapse. We observe significant elevation of WNT5A in a subset of tumors from patients exhibiting disease progression on BRAFi therapy. WNT5A transcript and protein are also elevated in BRAFi-resistant melanoma cell lines generated by long-term in vitro treatment with BRAFi. RNAi-mediated reduction in levels of endogenous WNT5A in melanoma decreases cell growth, increases apoptosis in response to BRAFi challenge, and decreases the activity of pro-survival AKT signaling. Overexpression of WNT5A conversely promotes melanoma growth and tumorigenesis and activates AKT signaling. Similar to WNT5A knockdown, knockdown of the WNT receptors FZD7 and RYK inhibits growth, sensitizes melanoma cells to BRAFi, and reduces AKT activation. Together, these findings suggest that chronic BRAF inhibition elevates WNT5A expression, which then acts through FZD7 and RYK to promote AKT signaling, leading to increased growth and therapeutic resistance. Increased WNT5A expression in BRAFi-resistant melanomas also correlates with an associated transcriptional signature, which identifies potential therapeutic targets to reduce clinical resistance to BRAFi. Expression of WNT5A-correlated genes was compared in melanoma cell lines generated to be resistant to PLX4032 and the their associated naïve parental line Basal expression of the WNT5A-correlated genes was also measured in experiments comparing each naïve line to a mixed reference pool containing equal amounts of 47 melanoma cell lines.

Project description:Canonical Wnt signaling plays an important role in development and disease, regulating transcription of target genes and stabilizing many proteins phosphorylated by Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 (GSK3). We observed that the MiT family of transcription factors, which includes the melanoma oncogene MITF and the lysosomal master regulator TFEB, had the highest phylogenetic conservation of three consecutive putative GSK3 phosphorylation sites in animal proteomes. This prompted us to examine the relationship between MITF, endolysosomal biogenesis and Wnt signaling. Here we report that MITF expression levels correlated with the expression of a large subset of lysosomal genes in melanoma cell lines. MITF expression in the Tetracycline-inducible C32 melanoma model caused a marked increase in vesicular structures, and increased expression of late endosomal proteins such as Rab7, LAMP1, and CD63. These late endosomes were not functional lysosomes as they were less active in proteolysis, yet were able to concentrate Axin1, phospho-LRP6, phospho-β-Catenin, and GSK3 in the presence of Wnt ligands. This relocalization significantly enhanced Wnt signaling by increasing the number of multivesicular bodies (MVBs) into which the Wnt signalosome/destruction complex becomes localized upon Wnt signaling. We also show that the MITF protein was stabilized by Wnt signaling, through the novel C-terminal GSK3 phosphorylations identified here. MITF stabilization caused an increase in MVB biosynthesis, which in turn increased Wnt signaling, generating a positive feed-back loop that may function during the proliferative stages of melanoma. The results underscore the importance of misregulated endolysosomal biogenesis in Wnt signaling and cancer. Expression of selected Lysosomal genes and CLEAR element plus MITF were compared in 51 melanoma cell lines to a mixed reference pool containing equal amounts of 47 melanoma cell lines.

Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a nearly uniformly lethal malignancy, with most patients facing an adverse clinical outcome. Given the pivotal role of aberrant Notch signaling in the initiation and progression of PDAC, we investigated the effect of MRK-003, a potent and selective γ-secretase inhibitor, in preclinical PDAC models. We used a panel of human PDAC cell lines, as well as patient-derived PDAC xenografts, to determine whether pharmacological targeting of the Notch pathway could inhibit pancreatic tumor growth and potentiate gemcitabine sensitivity. In vitro, MRK-003 treatment downregulated the canonical Notch target gene Hes-1, significantly inhibited anchorage independent growth, and reduced the subset of CD44+CD24+ and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)+ cells that have been attributed with tumor initiating capacity. Ex vivo pretreatment of PDAC cells with MRK-003 in culture significantly inhibited the subsequent engraftment in immunocompromised mice. In vivo, MRK-003 monotherapy significantly blocked tumor growth in 5 of 9 (56%) patient-derived PDAC xenografts. Moreover, a combination of MRK-003 and gemcitabine showed enhanced antitumor effects compared to gemcitabine alone in 4 of 9 (44%) PDAC xenografts. Baseline gene expression analysis of the treated xenografts indicated that upregulation of nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) pathway components was associated with the sensitivity to single MRK-003, while upregulation in B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling and nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-like 2 (NRF2) pathway correlated with response to the combination of MRK-003 with gemcitabine. The preclinical findings presented here provide further rationale for small molecule inhibition of Notch signaling as a therapeutic strategy in PDAC. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma xenografts were grown in Athymic Nude-Foxn1nu mice. RNA was extracted and profiled in Affymetrix platform to identify genes correlating with sensitivity to MRK-003

Project description:Differential expression of mRNA were conducted in neuroblastoma cell line SKNDZ, which successfully transduced human miR-125b MYCN-amplification SKNDZ neuroblastoma cell line was transduced with MIRN125B2 gene with lentiviral vector (pLKO.1-puro), and selected by puromycin for 48 hours. Then the total RNA was extracted and analyzed the differential expression of a total of 29,187 genes by Oligonucleotide DNA microarray.

Project description:Insulin resistance is necessary but not sufficient for the development of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes results when pancreatic beta-cells fail to compensate for insulin resistance by increasing insulin production through an expansion of beta-cell mass or increased insulin secretion. Communication between insulin target tissues and beta-cells may initiate this compensatory response. Correlated changes in gene expression between tissues can provide evidence for such intercellular communication. We profiled gene expression in six tissues of mice from an obesity-induced diabetes-resistant and a diabetes-susceptible strain before and after the onset of diabetes. We studied the correlation structure of mRNA abundance and identified 105 co-expression gene modules. We provide an interactive gene network model showing the correlation structure between the expression modules within and among the six tissues. This resource also provides a searchable database of gene expression profiles for all genes in six tissues in lean and obese diabetes-resistant and diabetes-susceptible mice, at 4 and 10 weeks of age. A cell cycle regulatory module in islets predicts diabetes susceptibility. The module predicts islet replication; we found a strong correlation between ^2 H_2 O incorporation into islet DNA /in vivo/ and the expression pattern of the cell cycle module. This pattern is highly correlated with that of several individual genes in insulin target tissues, including IGF2, which has been shown to promote beta-cell proliferation, suggesting that these genes may provide a link between insulin resistance and beta-cell proliferation. Keywords: time course, mouse strain comparison, effect of obesity, Type 2 diabetes is a disorder that involves an increased demand for insulin brought about by insulin resistance, together with a failure to compensate with sufficient insulin production. Although Insulin resistance occurs in most obese individuals, diabetes is generally forestalled through compensation with increased insulin. This increase in insulin occurs through an expansion of beta-cell mass and/or increased insulin secretion by individual beta-cells. Failure to compensate for insulin resistance leads to type 2 diabetes. One way to understand the pathophysiology of diabetes is to examine the coordinate changes in gene expression that occur in insulin-responsive tissues and pancreatic islets in obese animals that either compensate for insulin resistance or progress to type 2 diabetes. In each case, there are groups of genes that undergo changes in expression in a highly correlated fashion. By identifying groups of correlated transcripts (gene expression modules) during the compensation and development of diabetes, we can gain insight into potential pathways and regulatory networks in obesity-induced diabetes. We study two strains of mice that differ in obesity-induced diabetes susceptibility. In this study, we surveyed gene expression in six tissues of lean and obese C57BL/6 (B6) and BTBR mice aged 4 wks and 10 wks. B6 mice remain essentially non-diabetic at all ages, irrespective of obesity. When obese, BTBR mice become severely diabetic by 10 weeks of age. By analyzing the correlation structure of the genes under three contrast conditions, obesity, strain, and age, we identified gene expression modules associated with the onset of diabetes and provide an interactive co-expression network model of type 2 diabetes. We found a key module that is comprised of cell cycle regulatory genes. In the islet, the expression profile of these transcripts accurately predicts diabetes and is highly correlated with islet cell proliferation.